Let’s take a few moments and look at the big business of religion. I could only guess how many billions of dollars are made annually by the selling of religion, or how much religious merchandise is bought and sold in the name of making money. Think about all the music, jewelry, art-work, videos, TV & radio programming, and the many trinkets and knickknacks marketed to any potential customer, and let’s not forget how many salaries are made promoting the Gospel with their tangible products. IT’S BIG BUSINESS.
The Apostle Paul tore down the trading of the goddess Diana and the silversmiths that made her images. (Acts 19:24) The first of the Ten Commandments is to have no graven images, but it’s pretty well known that that’s out the door. This, and much more is accepted in our society because of tradition, but truth is, it’s not acceptable to God. Just because the preaching of the Gospel has been a vocation to so many, and for so long, doesn’t excuse the fact that it’s plain and simply not from the Scripture as a way of making a living. Just the thought of getting paid to spread the Good News of our Savior, or making money off His existence, turns my stomach the wrong way. I always figured living for our Lord would cost us our thoughts, time, energy, mentality, opinions, our money and in fact our very life, and to make money off the Power and intimacy of Jesus would be far from what He ask us to do. (BUT IT’S STILL ACCEPTED AS ACCEPTABLE, IT’S A MONEY MAKING BUSINESS.) Could you even imagine the Apostle Paul passing around a collection plate with these crocodile tears in his eyes? He did take up contributions for a couple of impoverished cities, but those offerings were sent directly for their survival needs.
The profits made by these big so-called ‘churches’ is far beyond what the average Joe off the street can comprehend, and to build even yet a bigger outlandish building for their self-indulged egos is absurd.
If carnal minded man is allowed to continue with his fleshly self-promoting ideas and structures this ‘thing that many call church’ will continue to fall, it has to. There is no bottom to the pit that sensual man can invent in his imagination, and the devices used to lure folks into their web, that are yet to come; this is scary.
We were told in scripture to feed the sheep, not feed off of them.